Say what you will about patents. The patent system is undoubtedly a unique one. Last week, a few patents showed up on my virtual doorstep with many Dwolla names from the past and present. I printed them out and read them to jog my memory. It was a fun throwback to some of the challenges… Continue reading Dwolla Patents
Category: dwolla
Dwolla Interoperability
Dwolla released Virtual Account Numbers yesterday. This is interesting and beneficial for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is the interoperability VANs enable with the non-Dwolla payment world. A VAN is a routing number (RN) and account number (AN) combination that is ACH routable. This means you can plug a VAN into any… Continue reading Dwolla Interoperability
The Value Layer
The phrase the value layer of the internet is peppered throughout my work. When I say, the value layer of the internet, what I'm speaking to is the immensely complex series of systems that support value exchange across the internet. I've come to think about this as being comprised of access, value types, transfer types,… Continue reading The Value Layer
$1,000,000 in liquidity for $164.38. Solving for real-time with a bit of cash.
The topic of funds availability came up with a large potential partner on a call a few weeks ago. When funds are available to the recipient in an electronic transaction is more often than not a function of the Transfer Type that's being used to exchange money. In the US, there are many Transfer Types… Continue reading $1,000,000 in liquidity for $164.38. Solving for real-time with a bit of cash.
Talking Programmable Payments with Currency Cloud
I had an opportunity to talk with Jeff Forkin at Currency Cloud a few weeks ago about programmable payments and the approach we've taken at Dwolla. You can listen to the discussion below. Looking back on when I was first introduced to the Currency Cloud team and Stephen Lemon, it's amazing how far FinTech has… Continue reading Talking Programmable Payments with Currency Cloud
Sessions of money, data, and trust
The internet is full of sessions. From the most the most obvious to obscure — browser sessions, driving a car, phone calls, playing a game, and too many other examples to list. One of the design considerations for Dwolla's Labels technology was how to grant access to something that can't own an asset. Like a… Continue reading Sessions of money, data, and trust
Building a $10M+ revenue business on the Dwolla ecosystem
The Dwolla ecosystem is now big enough that businesses can be built around it and start generating substantial revenue. I was talking to a friend the other day who was thinking about starting a new company and I laughingly mentioned the fastest path to revenue I knew of right now was to build around the… Continue reading Building a $10M+ revenue business on the Dwolla ecosystem
Understanding Dwolla Transfer Types
I've been referencing my last entry on Customer Types frequently since I published it so I thought another one focused on Transfer Types would be helpful. Customer Types, broadly speaking, define who owns, or will own an asset. Transfer types are the ways in which those assets are transferred. Each value type has a settlement… Continue reading Understanding Dwolla Transfer Types
Understanding Dwolla Customer Types
When building a Dwolla platform application it's important to understand the Customer Types you can use. These are building blocks for your funds flows and the right end user experience. There are 3 Customer Types to understand. They are outlined on the Dwolla developer website but lately I find myself drawing them on a whiteboard… Continue reading Understanding Dwolla Customer Types
Capital Pool Conundrums
When money moves, en masse, there are typically collateral requirements somewhere. To oversimplify it, that's basically money (cash) one party has to give someone else in case something goes wrong. Sophisticated organizations might be able to use a bond, letter of credit, debt vehicle, or some other type of asset but most of us get… Continue reading Capital Pool Conundrums